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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24101029">in every universe</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/vivelapluto/pseuds/vivelapluto'>vivelapluto</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Druck | SKAM (Germany)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Red String of Fate, Soulmates, and colors, currently including red string of fate, soulmates aus!!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 23:53:34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,952</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24101029</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/vivelapluto/pseuds/vivelapluto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>fate works in mysterious ways, or david and matteo, finding each other because some things are simply destined</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Matteo Florenzi/David (Druck)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Druck Open Discord 1st Anniversary Exchange</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. intertwined</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Theamazingbobinsky/gifts">Theamazingbobinsky</a>.</li>



    </ul><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>because some of us are drawn together by forces beyond our control, or, red string of fate soulmate au!!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>David’s been waiting.</p><p>He doesn’t really mind it, even on the bad days. If anything, it makes them better. It gives him hope, that one day, something good is guaranteed to happen. That at the other end of this long, winding string is someone out there, meant for him.</p><p>Of course, he’s tried tracking them down. Tried following it to wherever it might lead. But in all honesty, he’s not sure if the person at the other end even wants to be found. Every time he feels something — a tug, a quickening of his heartbeat, even just the slightest bit of intuition — it’s gone in an instant.</p><p>Clearly, he’s being avoided.</p><p>It’s not a feeling he particularly likes, but really, what can he do?</p><p>Nothing, except wait.</p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Matteo’s only ever heard of one person cutting their string. He doesn’t even know it’s possible until Jonas tells him about it, about a friend of an enemy of a friend or something, who just gave up.</p><p>He wonders what it would be like for the person on the other end. To spend your whole life searching before realizing you were all alone.</p><p>Matteo’s thought about it a thousand times.</p><p>Once, he even grabbed the scissors.</p><p>And he would have. He would have in an instant.</p><p>He’s decided to wait, though.</p><p>Maybe if he can meet the person, talk to them, help them understand why he doesn’t want this — the feeling will be mutual. There’ll be no guilt, no honeyed words, just — respect.</p><p>Maybe they’ll even part as friends.</p><p>Jonas always laughs at this. “It’s how the world is, Matteo. Trust me when I say there’s no way in hell you’re going to want to cut that string once you meet them.”</p><p>A small, cold part of Matteo wishes he was brave enough to do it now, before.</p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>David can feel it. His pulse is racing and his breath is catching and suddenly he’s on edge.</p><p>There’s a tug on the string, and David watches the thin red thread, eyes following its trail, weaving in between crowds of people.</p><p>Close.</p><p>So close.</p><p>Without thinking, he breaks into a run.</p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Matteo sits alone at a table in a cafe, waiting. His restless fingers tap the edge of the one cup of coffee he’s ordered, the contents still untouched and at this rate, cold.</p><p>He’s done this to himself, really, though he’s seriously starting to regret it with the amount of times he’s had to remind himself that he’s here of his own will and volition.</p><p>Matteo had followed the string.</p><p>Now, there’s nothing he can do but wait, because whoever’s on the other end is close now.</p><p>He’s brought the scissors, too.</p><p>Forget what Jonas says, Matteo’s come to his decision.</p><p>He doesn’t want this.</p><p>He doesn’t want whomever the universe has decided to pick for him.</p><p>He wants —</p><p>Well, he’s not sure.</p><p>He’s so caught up in his own whirlwind of stubbornly defiant thoughts that he doesn’t notice the slightly breathless boy who sits across from him.</p><p>Matteo looks away as quickly as possible.</p><p>Because the smile on that face, the joy in his voice as he introduces himself — “David Schreibner, pleasure to meet you,” —  has his heart skipping a beat.</p><p>“Matteo Florenzi,” he forces the words out quickly before he can take them back, “and I’m sorry.”</p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>David swears he saw a light there.</p><p>Just a glimmer. Just a moment.</p><p>He’d bet his life on it.</p><p>But now Matteo’s eyes hold nothing but sorrow, regret and—determination. As though, despite the clear string that intertwines them, he’s searching for another, far-off goal.</p><p>“Anyway, um,” David struggles to make light of the situation. Something’s not quite right here, he can tell.</p><p>It’s most certainly not Matteo himself, not at all, but—</p><p>“How’s the coffee?” he blurts.</p><p>Matteo frowns. “I wouldn’t know,” he says, sliding his cup across the table to David.</p><p>It’s still filled to the brim.</p><p>David clears his throat. “How are you?” he asks.</p><p>The question itself is natural, nonchalant, even.</p><p>But honestly, there’s something wrong and David feels like he should know what it is.</p><p>They’re soulmates, after all.</p><p>“Listen, David,” Matteo replies, “you seem great and all, but the only reason you’re here is because I want to do this in person. I don’t want you to spend your whole life not knowing.”</p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Matteo can’t do it.</p><p>He’s holding the scissors, the thread pulled taut between the blades.</p><p>David hasn’t said a word. There’s an expression that’s a mixture of confusion and desolation on his face that Matteo can’t bear to look at.</p><p>“Seriously, David. Please don’t take this personally,” he just doesn’t know how to explain it.</p><p>This yearning for freedom, for choice, for —</p><p>Matteo’s not sure if it’s intentional, or if his hand simply slips.</p><p>There’s an almost inaudible snip.</p><p>He regrets it immediately afterwards, but David’s already long gone.</p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>David’s in shock. It’s by instinct and muscle memory alone that he somehow finds his way back to the apartment, all but collapsing onto the couch.</p><p>Matteo Florenzi. His soulmate.</p><p>Or at least, he had been.</p><p>The place where the thread had once been is red and raw, throbbing no matter how he tries to ice it, taping it over with a bandage, ladening it with antiseptic —</p><p>David can’t breathe.</p><p>He doesn’t even grab his jacket as he storms out of the apartment. As if on cue, the sky rumbles with thunder.</p><p>As the lightning splits it apart, David almost laughs at the irony.</p><p> This sure as hell isn’t freedom.</p><p>Not even remotely close.</p><p>Instead, Matteo’s felt nothing but empty. Hollow, and pained, as though those scissors had cut into his very heart.</p><p>The rain that pours from the sky seems oddly fitting.</p><p>Matteo finds himself sitting alone on a park bench, watching it all fall down.</p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>David has lost track of the time when he finally tires. Matteo’s probably already long gone.</p><p>Probably didn’t even spare David a second thought.</p><p>He’s in the park now, shoes soaked through and coated with mud as he trudges down the desolate path.</p><p>He should probably head home now, he thinks.</p><p>But something inside of him says otherwise. Something faint, reminiscent of the light he’d seen in Matteo’s eyes today, there and then gone.</p><p>So David keeps walking.</p><p>Matteo wonders if the boy approaching is sane or not.</p><p>Through the downpour, all he can make out is a silhouette of a person not wearing a jacket despite the horrific weather, seemingly wandering aimlessly.</p><p>As he gets closer, Matteo catches a glimpse of a face that’s so strikingly familiar it knocks the breath out of him.</p><p>“David?”</p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>“Matteo,” David breathes.</p><p>“How the hell did you find — Are you following me?” Matteo’s immediately on the defense.</p><p>David shakes his head vehemently. “No, I wasn’t I swear. I just wanted to talk to you and — “</p><p>Something had led him right to Matteo.</p><p>David doesn’t even finish speaking before Matteo realizes he doesn’t need to.</p><p>Because clearly, Matteo’s done something wrong.</p><p>Or, the universe has done something right.</p><p>“Let’s start over, okay? I’m Matteo Florenzi.” he says</p><p>They’re both soaking wet, standing alone in a park at dusk, and as another crack of thunder shakes the sky, Matteo can’t help but shiver.</p><p>But.</p><p>When David’s stunning smile returns, eyes bright enough to conquer any storm Matteo could imagine, he can’t help but smile back.</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. blue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>in which david searches for a world that isn't quite so gray, or, a colors soulmates au.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>David doesn’t believe the sky is blue. How can it possibly be blue, when it’s always so desolately and dismally grey?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Granted, he doesn’t even know what blue looks like. But everyone who can see it describes it like the most wonderful thing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>To which David scoffs, every time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A lot of it is jealousy, he’ll admit. Jealousy and spite, because why do they get to see the world in color when he’s stuck here, searching the face of every person he meets and watching, waiting, for something that’s never going to come.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>For a world of vibrancy and light and beauty that he’s only ever imagined.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>David tips his head back to look at the clouds. They’re still the same, he’s heard, when the shift happens. But the sky is said to be a beautiful, wondrous thing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You can see every color at once up there,” Amira tells him after meeting Mohammed. “The sunsets? They’re magnificent.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Magnificent.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And so, as the years stretch by, David waits.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And waits.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And waits.</span>
</p><hr/><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Matteo’s never been impatient when it comes to his soulmate, but the day he gets a call from Amira waxing poetic about sunsets and stars his hand shakes as he hangs up the phone, turning away from the window.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The sunset he’s watching right now is a pitiful thing — a grey sun sinking into a grey sky, just beneath an indistinct grey horizon. He sighs, resisting the urge to call Amira back and ask her more about it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Though the most detailed description in the world wouldn’t help, really, because Matteo doesn’t even know how to picture it. His time will come, though.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Someday.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Someday he’ll have someone to watch the sunset with, someday it’ll be him, excitedly talking on the phone to a friend, telling them about what a wondrous place this world is.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Standing up, Matteo shrugs on a jacket.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>What good is there in waiting, he decides, when that very person is out there somewhere?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Matteo steps outside, into the fading sunlight he’ll soon be able to truly see.</span>
</p><hr/><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>David only decides to go out because the boredom and insufferable waiting has him on the brink of losing all hope.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He keeps his head down, though, not wanting to look at the monotonous world around him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Everyone speaks of red and blue and yellow and orange, and it’s not fair.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Because all David sees is charcoal and slate and heather and blandness.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He’s told himself a thousand times not to question it. His time will come. Sooner or later, though he really hopes it’s sooner.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>David decides to lift his chin, stopping his dead-eyed gaze towards the ground.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Insipid as this world is, he might as well face it head-on.</span>
</p><hr/><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>The boy at the cafe is beautiful, and smart, and charismatic — Matteo’s been waiting for him to look his way for the past hour.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He’s talking with some friends, an ethereal smile painted on his darkened lips.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Something feels off, but Matteo can’t help but wonder. He walks over, conjuring up a smile of his own.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Perhaps hearing is approaching footsteps, he turns around —</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Matteo hadn’t realized he’d been holding his breath until now, as it all escapes him in a deflated sigh.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As the world remains as it was before, even as their eyes meet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He offers a beckoning hand. Matteo returns with a wave goodbye.</span>
</p><hr/><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>David doesn’t know how, but he’s ended up at the cafe and is currently on his third — or is it fourth? — coffee.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It’s far too bitter, and rather diluted, if he’s being honest with himself, but he doesn’t really care. Some people who have come past have offered him smiles, waves, winks, words of greeting, but when nothing happens, they all move on.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Perhaps that’s what David should do, but he’s been sitting here for a few hours now and can’t get himself to leave, for some reason.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He orders another coffee</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The waitress slides it across the table to him, as a voice beside him says, “Uh, is anyone sitting here?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>David turns to offer his condolences, but freezes as the boy’s eyes meet his.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Matte—“ he starts to introduce himself, then falters.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His gaze intensifies, and it’s all David can do not to fall apart right there.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>For those eyes —</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He knows it the moment he sees it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Blue.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  
</p>
  </div></div>
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